


Caring for the Body (Caring for the Soul)

by smoothmovebro



Category: Kaleidotrope (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, lush au, self-care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-23 10:51:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17682047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoothmovebro/pseuds/smoothmovebro
Summary: Harrison works at a Lush store. Drew is a hapless regular that keeps bumping into him.Valentine's Day is coming up. What shall they do to spend the holiday?





	1. Peaches and... Creamy Bananas?

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone! been a while since i wrote and this is my first fic for kaleidotrope. this should be fun!  
> i am a massive lush fan so writing this was immensely fun ^-^  
> (inspired by a discord conversation i had on the kaleidotrope server)

Drew couldn’t help it. The heady smell of grass and the eclectic culmination of essential oils drew him in like a snake charmer playing their flute and Drew is the snake.

Not that he’s a snake in the metaphorical sense, it just felt like the right words to describe it- Oh, what’s the use in justifying a dubious word choice when the scents are beckoning to him; calling out his name, almost.

“Hi! Welcome to Lush!” a bubbly employee chirped. Drew nodded and smiled sheepishly at the employee. He pointed to a random section of the store to indicate he was headed there and so he did.

The table of bath bombs were always a sight to behold. The wooden crates and shelves housing the various fizzy delights. The way that they were stacked and the way that their colors somehow always worked together no matter how you placed the bath bombs. The faux-handwritten signage with the names of the products and a poetic description of them that’s apt to the scent. Even the dusty edges of the table gave the bath bombs a quaint and personal touch to their glamour. Drew leaned in to smell a bath bomb that looked like a peach.

Since Valentine’s Day was just around the corner, the whole store had this romantic and even cheeky air to it. A screen by the front of the store was awash with pink and yellow color palettes. From the corner of his eye, Drew spotted a couple of other customers trying out a massage bar that looked like a banana. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the implications of all their Valentine’s products.

“Did you know that the Peachy bath bomb has peach juice in it?”

Drew flinched and turned around to see who spoke. It was another Lush employee, but somehow with a bubblier personality than the first one he saw at the door. He had a huge grin on his face and he was, quite literally, vibrating with energy what with the bouncing he was doing.

“I… did not,” Drew replied.

“Well, now you know!” the bubblier employee said. “It also has grapefruit in it. Plus, it fizzes slowly in the bath so you could see all the pink swirls it makes and even have a little photoshoot of it! Hashtag bath art!”

Drew chuckled and twitched his mouth in a smile as a response. He loved how enthusiastic Lush employees are, don’t get him wrong, but it often clashed with his introverted nature.

To appease the hovering Lush employee, he said, “I’ll take… one of that please.”

“Certainly!” The bubbly employee plucked a paper bag from around the corner of the table, picked up a peach-shaped bath bomb, and gingerly placed it in the bag. He folded the bag twice before handing it to Drew. “Would you like me to put it in a basket for you?”

Looking around the store, Drew shrugged. “Yeah, why not?”

“Excellent! I’ll be one moment.” He dashed off to grab a black plastic basket and handed it to Drew, who then placed the paper bag in it. “I’m Harrison, by the way. So if you need me, you’ll know where to find me!”

“I’ll… keep note of that… Harrison.” Drew coughed. “Uh… I’m Drew.”

“Nice to meet you, Drew! What else can I help you with today?”

“Oh, I’m just… having a look.”

“That’s okay! We have a limited-edition range for Valentine’s Day around the shop so feel free to check that out.”

“I’m sure I will.” Drew dashed away from Harrison and wandered into a different section of Lush: the skincare section.

When he first got into Lush products, Drew was frightened of the skincare section. Everything was either black pots labeled with names he had never seen before or strangely shaped pieces of wax that became sticky as soon as he held a tester in his hand. But, like all unfamiliar things, visiting the section again and again helped him understand which product did what.

He started off with the facial care section: browsing through the cleansers, the facial soaps, and the more expensive face masks. He stopped by the testers for Sea Salt and Mask of Magnaminty. Those two not only looked appealing, but they also smelled like it too. Sea Salt reminded him of beach trips when he was younger, while Mask of Magnaminty reminded him of Christmas. Not everyone loves the smell of Magnaminty but many attested to its effects. The display rolls of fresh facial cleansers always looked like colorful meat loaves to him, especially Let the Good Times Roll.

It didn’t help that it also had bits of popcorn in the roll.

Moving on, Drew glanced upon the sparse makeup section of skin tints and mascara. He heard of some disapproval from a few Instagram accounts he followed that Lush didn’t have in-person samples of their foundation sticks or their lipsticks. The three lone products looked even sadder when he remembered that.

He shook his head and found himself by the shelves where the moisturizers sat. He peered down each of the tester pots for the body lotions: admiring the colors, the scent each of them had, and he even noted which pot had less product. That lotion was either a best seller or didn’t sell well enough for staff to restock; it’s usually the former.

He looked up when he heard a familiar voice projecting throughout the shop.

“Hi, friends of Lush!”

Harrison was giving a loud demonstration and endorsement of some products that were perched on a dark, round slate. The pink and yellow palette was there again. _Must be the Valentines range,_ Drew thought.

Drew returned to browsing through the skincare section when he made the mistake of standing in front of the massage bar that was shaped like a banana. When he picked up the tester to get a whiff of the massage bar…

“Would you like to have a smell of our American Cream range?”

Harrison offered up the slate of pink and yellow products. There was a pink waxy thing shaped like a shower gel bottle, a pink and yellow piece of wax shaped like a pot, and an actual shower gel bottle with pink liquid inside. They all smelled similarly: vanilla with a hint of some sweet cream topped with something fruity.

“What are these?” Drew replied.

Harrison beamed a wide smile. “I’m glad you asked! These two pink ones are the American Cream shower gels. One is a naked alternative while the other is your regular shower gel. They smell the same, they feel the same, we just like to offer a waste-free solution.”

Drew ran a tentative finger over the naked shower gel. As predicted, it felt waxy but not as melty as the massage bars. The whole naked shower gel concept was revolutionary to him when it first came out. He hated having to remember to recycle shower gel bottles so this offered a great solution for him.

He didn’t want to tell Harrison, but he liked to play dumb around Lush employees. Hearing them talk about their products with such passion and conviction filled a hole in his heart that he couldn’t quite describe. He often asked them how a certain product worked – even though he had one of that product himself at home – just to have them demonstrate it on him or themselves. It was a silly idea, he was aware, but it was one of the few opportunities he had for physical contact with another human being.

Sad, ain’t it?

“Would you want to know how the body conditioner works?” Harrison asked, pointing at the pink and yellow pot. Drew nodded. Harrison led him to the nearest sink and turned on the tap.

As the tap ran, Harrison ran the pot under the water. “So this is like an in-shower moisturizer, meaning you can lather this on your skin and it’s like putting on lotion in the shower.” Drew hummed in agreement.

“Would you want to feel it on your arm?” Harrison offered. In response, Drew rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm under the sink. Harrison directed the water to flow down his arm and smoothed the pot over Drew’s arm firmly and in a circular motion.

It was like getting a massage. He’s used body conditioners before but the scent of this one reminded him of the American Cream hair conditioner: sweet, vanilla-y, and creamy. Personally, sweet scents aren’t his thing but it fits well with the spirit of the unofficial holiday. It might even suit Harrison more than himself…

“Hey.”

Drew blinked. He cleared his throat and looked at Harrison. “Sorry, what?”

“I asked how you feel about the body conditioner.” Harrison smiled, but it was kinder, sincerer. Like Drew was a close friend that needed checking in on. He must have looked stupid zoning out like that.

“I, uh, yeah. Feels nice, like I have lotion on. The scent’s a little not my cup of tea.”

Harrison turned off the tap, set aside the pot, and grabbed a handful of paper towels to dry off Drew’s arm. “I understand that not everyone likes the sweet scent. I see that you were near The Big Banana massage bar, you might like to give that a try?”

Mentally shrugging to himself, Drew nodded and offered up his other arm. Harrison grabbed the tester and smoothed over the banana shaped piece of wax in that same firm way he did with the body conditioner.

While the body conditioner felt more relaxing and sweeter, this… _banana_ invigorated him and it smelled spicy and sultry. Feeling more awake, Drew finally got a better look at Harrison.

He had brightly dyed hair. He was the same height as Drew but perhaps a bit slimmer than him. It was hard to tell from the black outfit he had with the Lush apron around his waist. Plus, the lighting in the shop always put certain figures in a more… biased light, so to speak. But overall, he looked like he belonged in the shop. What’s great about Lush employees is that everyone who worked there looked like they belonged there. Sure, they looked like ordinary people but they all had a spark that not everyone had. Perhaps this was a spark that young, optimistic souls had.

A spark that Drew knew he lost a long time ago.

“I think I prefer that one,” Drew said before his silence became too awkward. “I think I’ll get one of that too.”

Harrison’s signature smile returned. “Great choice! I knew that you were the spicy type.” He grabbed a massage bar from the actual pile and put it in a paper bag. Then he gently placed it beside the peach bath bomb in Drew’s basket.

“A peach and a banana,” Harrison said in a singsong tone. “I wonder what you’re up to, Mr. Drew.” He smirked and winked for a second. Drew felt his face heat up.

“I… uhh… they smell… really nice?” Drew gulped and the lump slid down his throat slower than he liked. Now that he’s looking at it, the massage bar was positioned beside the peach bath bomb so that the tip of the banana was touching the tip of the peach. Harrison wrapped the products in a way that you could see their silhouette.

Was Harrison suggesting something?

“Yes, they do! I use the massage bar and it works ­ _wonders_ for me. Just exactly the right kind of spice in my life!”

There it was again, that singsong tone. Drew can’t be mistaken at that point. But no, this was a retail shop. He had to be respectful. Just because someone was being more than nice to him doesn’t mean anything.

“Can I take this to the counter?” Drew asked.

“I can put it through for you myself,” Harrison said. Drew gave him the basket and followed him to the counter.

Harrison typed out something on a keypad behind the countertop scale and stickers printed at the side of it. He tore off the sticker and sealed the bags with them. He scanned the stickers and Drew paid for them.

“Would you like a bag with that?”

“It’s fine, I’ve got my own.”

“Cool!” Harrison gave the paper bags to Drew and waved him goodbye as he left the store.

He glanced at the paper bags he was clutching awkwardly in his hands. He found a bench in the mall and set down his bag so he could pop them in there. However, something caught his eye just before he zipped up his bag.

Something was written on one of the paper bags.

It was a filled in heart.

Drew closed the bag and went home.

At home, he cut out the heart on the paper bag and stuck it in his notebook. With that, he used the peach bath bomb and sat in his tub, basking in the sweet scent and the warm waters. 


	2. Nice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Harrison visits the Lush store. There's numbers involved and it's nice :3

Regardless of his mood, walking into a Lush store always made Drew feel a little more optimistic about life. The plain and homey interior design with the blackboards and the wooden pallets brought about a clean but worn-in look to the place. Going inside the shop felt like a wonderland that was hiding just behind the corner.

Like always, he was greeted, and he made an immediate beeline for the bath section, this time paying more attention to the bubble bars. The signature swirly trio of Brightside, The Comforter, and Blue Skies, were next to each other in small but jaunty stacks. He picked up Blue Skies and breathed in the frankincense and cinnamon, a combination of rich and spicy scents that transported his soul to another time far away from now.

He put Blue Skies down and his eyes stumbled upon two bronze and glittery bubble bars. One was a token-shaped bubble bar with the words “Thank You” embossed on it. The other was shaped like two cones stuck together by the flat round side by something yellow in the middle. He read about those two on social media but he walked over to their signage anyway to have a proper read.

“Love Token always reminds me of Ariana Grande.”

Drew jumped out of his skin and squeaked. He covered his mouth and he turned to see Harrison giggling behind his hand. Drew sighed. “You scared me!”

Harrison raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I didn’t mean to. But doesn’t it remind you of Ariana Grande too? The Love Token, I mean.”

Drew picked up the coin-shaped bubble bar and inspected it. “I suppose. Like the song. Thank you, next.”

“Such a bop! And what’s great about it is that you can use it again and again!”

Drew made his practiced “I’m impressed face”, despite visiting the page for Love Token last night. “So how exactly can you reuse it?” _Gotta sell the act._

“Oh, it’s very simple! Come on over to the sink with me, I even got one ready to go.”

Drew followed Harrison to a sink. Harrison plugged the sink and turned on the tap. “So what you do is you just take the token,” he said, holding up a less glittery Love Token, “and let it sit under warm running water.” Upon doing so, a small layer of bubbles developed on the surface of the water.

“Even just holding it under there for a few seconds is all you need for a super bubbly bath!” He set the token beside the sink. Then, he stuck his hand in the sink to agitate the water, making the bubbles rise and become bigger. Drew stepped closer to the sink and leaned in to smell the bubbles.

The spicy and woody scent gave him a sense of home, but this time it smelled like home during the winter. Memories of baking gingerbread cookies with his mother came back to mind. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“You’re liking this one?”

Once again, Harrison shook Drew out of his reverie. “Yeah. Reminds me of home, actually.”

“Nice! May I ask if you’re from England?”

“Uh, yeah. Gloucester, to be exact.”

“Gloss…ter?”

Drew chuckled. “It’s a mouthful for some.”

“I’m sure it is! So, how do you feel about the Love Token?”

Now that he was thinking about it, he looked back to the table and jerked his thumb behind him. “Do you have any other reusable bubble bars for Valentine’s Day?”

Harrison’s face lit up. The joy in his eyes was infectious; Drew couldn’t help but smile too. “Yes, we do! Two, in fact! They’re called Six.” He strode over to the bath bomb table again and stopped by a pair of bubble bars shaped like, well, sixes. One pile was pink and yellow, another was blue and yellow. Drew picked up a blue and yellow Six to smell it.

By itself, it wasn’t a remarkable bubble bar. But, payday just came the other day so he wouldn’t mind spending a bit on two. Drew always meant to introduce Hal to Lush, so getting two wouldn’t hurt. “I’ll take one of each color, thanks. And that’ll be it from me for now.”

“Sure thing! You want me to take it to the counter?”

“Yeah.”

Without even putting them into paper bags, Harrison took the Sixes, one of each color. He placed them on the countertop scale before going behind the counter. Drew would’ve missed what Harrison just did if the things weren’t so damn colorful.

The blue and yellow Six was placed tail up, from Drew’s perspective. The pink and yellow Six was placed tail down. Meaning…

Harrison put the bubble bars in a 69 formation in front of Drew. A 69. In February. Just days away from Valentine’s Day.

Surely Drew wasn’t the only one sensing a pattern here?

Finally, Harrison put the bubble bars in paper bags. He took the paper bags with him as he crouched down behind the counter. Drew opened his mouth to protest but Harrison already emerged with a bigger paper bag, the kind with the handles.

Drew paid for the things and took the bag from the counter. Like before, Harrison waved him goodbye until he walked out of the store. That was when Drew took a look inside the bag.

There were three smaller paper bags inside. He inspected each of them: the two Sixes and another bubble bar. This time, it was a pink cone with yellow and purple stripes swirling around it; the Unicorn Horn bubble bar. Squished beside it was a folded-up note. Drew opened the note.  

It said, “For when you’re feeling… _horny_ ;) - Harrison”

Oh, for God’s sake, what the hell is this guy playing at!

He chucked the big paper bag inside his backpack and started texting Hal to meet up. Half an hour later, he’s seated at a window seat in Kishi’s, fiddling with a napkin with a barista’s number on it. He found himself wondering if those numbers were the personal numbers of the baristas. If so, that would’ve been very disturbing and he hoped they got paid enough and were provided with adequate compensation. Kishi’s is like the Lush of cafes: enthusiastic staff with a hands-on approach to customer service.

“What’s up?” Hal said, seating herself in front of Drew. When Drew opened his mouth, she said, “Hold that thought, lemme just order.” She dumped her purse on her seat and walked up to the counter to order. She returned and sat herself down again. “Okay, _now_ you can tell me.”

Drew procured the Lush paper bags from his backpack. “I actually have a gift for you,” he said as he laid down the bags on the table.

“Is it the gift of a good night’s sleep?”

Drew sat up and rolled his eyes. “Har dee har, Hal. Just take this one.” He pushed forward one of the bags that contained a Six towards Hal. Hal opened the bag and took out the Six.

“The hell am I supposed to do with this?”

“You let it sit under running tap water for a bit then set it aside for later. It’s for bubble baths.”

Hal raised an eyebrow at Drew. “We didn’t just meet up for you to give me a dinky thing from Lush, didn’t we?” Drew shook his head.

A barista arrived with Hal’s order: a hot chocolate. There was chocolate fudge on top of the foam drawn in the shape of a heart. Hal took the cup and drank as Drew explained what had happened to him so far with Harrison.

“And then he gives me this?” He took out the Unicorn Horn with the note from its bag. Hal craned her neck to read the note. She closed her eyes as she leaned back and resumed drinking.

“He’s gay for you,” she said. Her voice was muffled from the cup blocking her mouth. She set it down on the saucer. “Super homo. Mega thirsty. To the point that he made a sex joke in front of you _at his workplace_.”

Drew packed away the bubble bars into his backpack and leaned into the table. “That’s impossible! It’s Lush! They’re _supposed_ to be like that.”

“Pretty sure Lush employees don’t place products in a customer’s basket so that it looks like a _dick penetrating a butt._ ”

Drew glanced at a couple of new customers that arrived and he sunk into his seat so fast that the table jostled. Hal jerked back and looked under the table to shoot Drew a pointed look.

From underneath, Drew jerked a thumb to the people who just walked in. “That’s him!” he whisper-shouted. “We gotta get outta here!”

Hal sighed. “Get up, Mr. Denial. They won’t even see us.” Despite the assurance, Drew followed Hal close by as they made a beeline for the exit.

As for Harrison and his co-worker Vivian, they were too tired from their shift to care about who else was in the café.

“You gave him a Unicorn Horn and it _wasn’t_ an accidental sample?” Vivian hissed through gritted teeth.

“In my defense,” Harrison said, “it was from a damaged gift box and no one was touching it.”

“Oh, so that makes it all better?”

“Says the one who mixed one of each of the mouthwash tabs and _drank it_!”

Vivian pointed a finger at Harrison. “That was _one_ time.”

“You have a _severe_ problem with drinking dubious concoctions.”

“And _you_ have a severe problem with hitting on customers.”

A barista arrived with their orders and set them on the table. She turned to Harrison and said, “Do you work at Lush?”

Harrison blinked at the question. “Yes… why?”

The barista covered her mouth with the edge of the tray, then she lowered it so she’s holding it in front of herself. “I don’t mean to pry, but someone with a bunch of paper bags from Lush just left. Maybe they knew you?”

Harrison looked at Vivian, who shrugged. “Maybe. Um… thanks for letting me know!”

The barista fiddled with the tray and she excused herself in a hurry. She was covering an emerging blush with the tray as she scurried back into the kitchen. Harrison and Vivian shot each other strange looks.

“Is this going to be my trope?” Harrison asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Vivian took five of the sugars in the middle of their table and emptied it into his coffee.

Harrison grimaced as he drank the contents in one go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell that I used to work for Lush? lmao


	3. On the Edge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drew gets a call while he's in the bath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why, yes, I am timing these so the last chapter would be released on Valentine's Day :3

Crushing the Unicorn Horn under the running tap, swirling clouds of lavender and neroli wafted through Drew’s bathroom. It’s the first bubble bar he’s used with that particular combination. The Big Sleep jelly bomb also had that combination but the sensation of jelly in his bathwater made Drew scrunch up his nose at the idea. It was either a normal bath or a bubble bath for Drew; he was a simple man with simple pleasures.

Once the tub filled up, Drew stepped in and lowered himself so the bubbles were at his eye level. The warm water along with the lavender lulled him to a peaceful state of mind. His phone was on the closed lid of the toilet, with his speaker playing soft lo-fi hip-hop beside it. Cracking vinyl, while cliché and typical in the genre, always gave him a nostalgic feeling; a feeling linked with dancing on his father’s feet as they swayed to Tom Jones’ records on a Sunday morning. Dozing off and getting lost in that memory made him lower himself a tad too much in the water, making him snort water and some bubbles.

Drew coughed and wiped his face. Curse the lavender Lush puts in their products, for they bring him to sleep at the snap of a finger. Not that he’ll actually sue them, he’s just fascinated by how potent the effect is on him, despite using lavender products like the Twilight body spray and Sleepy shower gel. Smell, Drew recalled, has the strongest link with memories because it’s processed faster than other sensory inputs. Something about it being directly connected to the part of the brain that stores memories; he wouldn’t know, neuroscience was a topic that sort of flew over his head in his psychology elective.

The speaker moved onto the next track, a Jinsang track. Yes, Drew has listened to enough of Jinsang to know when it’s them from the first five seconds of a track. It’s a pathetic guilty pleasure of his, honestly. He found it by chance looking for a playlist to study to back in his free periods in sixth form, Then, it just… stuck with him to now. It was impossible not to imagine a leisurely afternoon while listening to a track of the genre.  He would smoke weed to this if he had any weed to speak of. Speaking of getting high…

Drew was going through a different high right now, after the fiasco of Harrison walking into Kishi’s. It’s a high that he hadn’t felt since… his last relationship.

Oh, dear… Best not think of that now. Before the memories of the blackmail come back, before the crawling feeling he had at the incident crept back again to haunt him for the rest of the week before the smell of Axe drives him to insanity and anger-

The speaker chimed with Drew’s ringtone. He wiped his hands on his towel and answered the call, making sure his torso was over the edge of the bath. “Hello?”

“Is this Drew?”

Drew jostled his bath tray at the familiar voice.

“Harrison? How did you get my number?”

“This girl gave it to me! Uhh, her name was Hal? You didn’t tell me you run a radio show! You should invite me sometime!”

Drew was flabbergasted. Processing all the implications – that Hal met Harrison, that Hal gave him his number, that Harrison even bothered to call him – left him speechless. But still, he couldn’t leave Harrison hanging. “Uh… yeah, sure. Why not?”

On the other end, Harrison hummed. It was a hum that said “I see” and “you’re so cute” at the same time. A pause, and then, “Whatcha doin’?” in an up and down intonation a curious child would use.

Should Drew answer truthfully? No, he jostled the tray. Harrison would know what a wooden bath tray against a porcelain bath would sound like, right? Don’t Lush people know that kind of stuff? “I’m… You caught me in the bath.”

“Ooh, fun! Are you using the Unicorn Horn?”

“How did you-”

“Lucky guess. How are you finding it?”

“R-really interesting. It’s the only other product I know that has lavender and neroli. The Big Sleep also has those ingredients but jelly bombs aren’t my cup of tea.”

Before Drew could slap a hand over his mouth for basically speaking Lushie, Harrison cooed. “Are you a Lushie too?” Harrison asked. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Drew slid his bath tray so he would have enough room to sit up and face his phone so he could talk to Harrison properly. “I don’t know… It’s this thing I do sometimes? Play dumb at Lush just so I could hear you guys talk about your stuff? It’s weird but… old habits, yeah.” He mentally congratulated himself for not mentioning the fact that he sometimes played dumb for the physical contact during demos.

“Oh, yeah, we _love_ talking about our stuff. We’re, like, lectured about what our ingredients do and where they’re from. You should check out the Lush Player video on where we get our jasmine! We’re totally serious about the whole ethical supplier thing.”

“Lush… Player?”

“Yeah! It’s like our YouTube channel but on steroids. It goes _way_ in depth about other stuff like animal rights campaigns we participate in, some videos they only show to staff most of the time, but it’s open for the public.” Harrison paused. He sighed, and continued, “You knew this, didn’t you?”

“… Yes.”

“You sly dog! You got me monologuing!”

Drew laughed. “Did you just quote The Incredibles?”

“Maybe I did.”

“You’re impossible.”

“Impossibly _awesome_.”

They both laugh and when the silence fell on them like the first snowflake of winter, the memory of the last time they saw each other flooded back. Now was his chance.

“Harrison?”

“Yes, Drew?”

“Did you… did you put the Unicorn Horn in my bag as a Random Act of Kindness?”

A pause from the other end. “I’ll take that as a yes?” Drew said.

“Look, I don’t do that kind of thing often. I know we’re supposed to be a bit generous with that kind of thing, but, like… I don’t know, it has to feel special for me.”

“Right.” Drew had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“And I know I’m all bubbly around you – I’m bubbly around everyone when I’m at work – but with you, it’s… more genuine? I mean, I have a lot of fun at work but I have more fun with you if that makes sense…”

“Right…” Drew felt that high come back again, starting from his chest, spreading to his legs, then to his hands. He clenched his fists to manage the trembling from sheer emotion and anticipation. To his heart, it was a nice feeling. But to his brain – his fucked up, hurt, traumatized, _sensitive_ brain – it’s sending all kinds of fight or flight signals to him. He’s been here before and he didn’t want to get hurt again.

“Look, Harrison,” Drew said, barely keeping his voice stable, “I’d love to stay and chat but, uhh… I feel weird talking with someone about stuff like this while I’m in the bath. Maybe we could… I don’t know, meet in person later? Like… tomorrow?”

“Oh.” _Oh no_. It’s the kind of “oh” that says “I overstepped your boundaries and now I feel like I have to cut myself off from your life because I was such an asshole”. But Drew didn’t want to give Harrison that impression.

“I-I mean, like… I like you, I just… I’d rather talk about that in person? I hope you get that.”

“Oh, totally. Yeah. Ummm… tomorrow afternoon at Kishi’s? I get off work at four.”

“Yeah, that sounds great. See you then.”

“Bye!”

“Bye.”

Drew let Harrison hang up first since his hands were shaking so hard he didn’t trust himself to reach for his phone without dropping it into the water.

The music came back as if nothing happened. Caleb Belkin’s “I Fall in Love Too Easily” croons over the speakers. Drew settles back into the tub and concentrates on the sensations of the warm water, the light bubbles, and the smell of lavender instead of the lyrics “I fall in love” being sung over and over again.

He ought to kick Hal’s ass for putting him through that kind of torture. She knew he wouldn’t do anything about Harrison unless someone gave him a nudge. While he did need a nudge from time to time regarding romantic endeavors, this was more of a shove off a cliff than a nudge.

The shaking was still there, even after three tracks have passed in his playlist. This bath wasn’t helping so he drained it, rinsed himself off, got dressed, and went into his room.

On his desk was his laptop. He settled himself on the worn office chair he got from an old friend and opened his laptop. He opened the Word Document on his desktop screen.

 _Humans of Sidlesmith – Valentine Special,_ was the title of the document.

He let his hands type the words. The words that encouraged hundreds of students to pursue their dreams and loves and goals. The words that consoled for those who were feeling down or hopeless or aimless in life. The words that empathised with those who were hesitant about trying again after being hurt. The words that made people laugh, cry, and coo, almost within the one column. The gift of writing had always been there with Drew. He somehow always knew how to say what he wanted to say in a potent and powerful way. Even his father, a man who wrote speeches for a living, often turned to him when he was in high school to go over his drafts to polish. _Writing_ _runs in the family,_ he remembered his grandmother saying. Her mother was a renowned author in a small country in Europe. He liked to think she passed on her skills to him.

As he typed, he found himself dangerously close to revealing his true identity, so he changed the text colour of certain incriminating sections for him to revise later. The funny thing about being Calamum Nomen is that he could share his deepest, darkest secrets but he can’t disclose which class he emerged from when he saw a couple give each other daffodils. Sidlesmith, being a humble college with a small student population, was a hotspot for gossip. How else would he have known that whole debacle with Stanwyck, Lovejoy, and Khaleesi?

Anyway, he typed about the mini-freakout he had in the bath (making sure to exclude that it happened in a bath, of course). How he understood those readers out there who had rocky relationships in the past and wanted to give love another shot. It was difficult, for him, to find the comfort he needed during his last breakup. Breakups are never easy, but this particular one for Drew really cut deep. He wrote about how stitching yourself back together needed time, patience, and a lot of self-reflection. That perhaps not all people are bad, that just need to be critical and mindful of why you’re letting someone into your life. He attempted to strike the balance between optimism and realism in this column. After all, Valentine’s Day tended to be a holiday with mixed reception from students of Sidlesmith. Most are excited for it, anticipating if this year would be the year they find their trope, while others in their established relationships are rekindling the passion. But there are, and Drew knew this, a few readers of his that are single or prefer to quietly celebrate the occasion. He didn’t want to make them feel left out.

After a half hour of typing at the keyboard with reckless abandon, Drew leaned back and scrolled through his work. A first draft, after all, was him telling himself the story. The second draft is when he should make it look like he knew he was doing all along. He saved his work and closed his laptop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find the things i reference below:  
> ["I Fall in Love Too Easily" by Caleb Belkin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UhO_Gwmefg)  
> [Jasmine buying story video from Lush](http://player.lush.com/channels/lush/tv/jasmine-lady-night)


	4. Human Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes all you need is a little empathy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> today is valentine's day at the time i post this (im in australia), so this will be a double update~

Back at Kishi’s, after Harrison had the misfortune of witnessing Vivian guzzle a coffee with five sugars, the most peculiar thing happened.

Besides the staff talking about someone Harrison _may_ have known walking out, another girl walked up to their table. She wasn’t wearing the uniform the rest of the Kishi's staff were wearing. In fact, she was wearing a hoodie that had the Sidlesmith logo on the chest. Who could she be and what did she want from him?

"You're Harrison, right?" the girl asked. The tone wasn't even unsure, it was like she asked as a formality. Harrison sat up straight.

"Yes, I am. How can I help you?"

"I'm a friend of Drew's. He’s a little shy so..." she handed him a slip of paper. "Give him a call sometime. Preferably around 6PM. You'll catch him at a good moment.” She said 'good' with a wink, then left the cafe. Harrison stared at the paper, then at Vivian.

"Okay," Vivian said, "this is definitely your trope."

"How do I know it's real and she's not scamming me?"

Vivian started tapping on his bone. "Already on it." A few minutes later and he showed his phone to Harrison. "Consistently a personal number. No bots or scammers associated and there's practically no buzz on the number. Pretty sure it's legit. The worst case scenario is that you get the wrong guy."

Harrison hummed at the new information. He looked at the time: 4PM. He had to get back to his place before his roommate starts hogging the shower. "I'll call him when I get home."

They finish up at Kishi's and go their separate ways. Harrison arrived at his dorm room with feet that could barely support him anymore. Still, he managed to shower and get dressed then flop himself on his bed. He rifled around for the paper that the Sidlesmith girl gave to him. He examined the number: same area code, written with dark ink, the paper was ripped at one edge. It was written in a moment of haste. Despite the circumstances, the numbers were clear and evenly spaced out. She even wrote the 9 in that round and loopy way that fonts do.

Harrison checked the time: 6:10PM. Now would be a good time to call. With a deep breath, he dialed and called.

Either Drew was a predictable person or the Sidlesmith girl knew him very well because Drew picked up right away and admitted to Harrison that he was in the bath. He had to applaud that Sidlesmith girl for her timing. Getting a call in the bath was a stealth way to get someone to talk and focus only on you...

Wait, was she trying to set them up or something? During the call, he heard Dan jostle his bath tray against his tub. The fact that he even had a bath tray was adorable enough. What did he put on his tray? Face masks? Books? Candles? Shower gels? The speculation killed him so he focused on the conversation instead. 

Finding out that Drew was a Lushie was barely a surprise to Harrison. Anyone who walks into the store for consecutive days in a row was bound to be a Lushie, unless it was Christmas season. That was the season where anything was possible and one-off customers would constantly return to do some last-minute chomping because they forgot someone on their list or they simply wanted to treat themselves. The way that Drew looked at the limited-edition products gave him away. Casual customers typically skimmed over signage or picked up the product right away to inspect them. Lushies, on the other hand, would either turn over the signage to read the ingredients or focus on the descriptive signage then look around to get a demo.

No, what surprised Harrison was how hurt Drew sounded when their conversation got a little more personal.

Harrison was a decent person who knew how to read a room; he knew when the conversation went to a touchy spot. It wasn’t just that having such a personal discussion on the phone felt inappropriate, there was something in the way that Drew dodged the topic that indicated something else. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about it because he had a bad experience or knew someone who had a bad experience. That’s why he tried to open up about himself, tried to be vulnerable around Drew so he could do the same.

But perhaps these issues ran deeper than he first thought. Harrison believed that everyone was like a book: some are wide open and you’re free to read what’s inside, while others are closed up and the only thing you can see is the spine with the title and maybe an author if you’re lucky. But there are others – and Drew might fit in this category – that are turned over and have the blurb exposed. You have an idea of what’s inside, but blurbs are also known to be very vague and misleading. You know those books; the kinds that have raving reviews for a blurb instead of some actual description of the book. Drew was kind of like that: a blurb of what people say about him and what everyone can see straight away.

And Harrison was determined to flip that book over and start from page one.

… Okay, that went to a dirtier place than he imagined.

He let Drew have his space and they arranged to meet up the next day at Kishi’s. He just hoped the baristas wouldn’t try to flirt with them or anything.

Harrison arrived first, ordering a drink then settling himself at a corner booth. He specified for his drink to be prepared normally; no cute hearts or numbers slipped under the cup. The staff gave him a puzzled look but obliged anyway. As he drank, he could spot a couple of baristas having a silent discussion while sneaking a few glances at him. He was the only one who was by himself at a table in the café.

Halfway through his drink, Drew arrived. He wasn’t late, Harrison just tried to be early for this instance. Show some integrity and all that. Harrison waved a hand and Drew went to the table. He dropped off his bag and excused himself so he could order.

As Drew ordered, the barista working on his order was smiling to himself. He saw Harrison and winked at him then jerked his head towards Drew. As he tapped the milk jug, he made an obscene gesture involving poking his tongue at the inside of his cheek and that was when Harrison looked away.

Drew came back with his order and sat himself down. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Harrison replied, still trying to compose himself from the innuendo he got from the Kishi’s barista.

“So…”

“So…”

They both laughed and tried to justify their nerves at the same time. Talking over each other, they apologized and tried to let the other person speak. With another conversational blunder, they laughed again and Harrison gestured for Drew to speak first.

“Yeah. Umm… Thanks for meeting up with me. I’m pretty rubbish at talking over the phone.”

“Totally fine!”

“Thank you for the horn. Really helped calm me down.”

“No problem!”

“That was kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. You said that you didn’t do Random Acts of Kindness often?”

Harrison knew this was a defense mechanism at play: get other people to talk so you didn’t have to talk about yourself. People who employed that tactic weren’t always with malicious intentions. Sometimes they really don’t know what to say at that moment and preferred a bit of a lead to go off. But he indulged Harrison and elaborated on why exactly Random Acts of Kindness – or RAOK’s, as they called it – from him were a rarity. He preferred to be more generous than his co-workers with his RAOK’s. That meant giving customers larger pots of certain body lotions or even whole gift sets if he knew their budget just reset. He once gave a customer a large pot of Dream Cream because they casually mentioned being too broke for moisturizer. And _no one_ should not have access to a solid moisturizer, he believed. So into the bag that pot went.

“Does that mean I’m not as special to give an RAOK to?” Drew jokingly asked.

“Oh, I was going to give you the Unicorn Horn gift set that had the Bubblegum lip scrub but the packaging was too flashy and I know that sweet scents aren’t your thing.”

“Oh,” Drew breathed. “That… You remembered.”

“Of course I do! Cal always said that remembering the things people think other people overlook is a great way to really get to know them.”

Drew’s hands flew to his cup and he raised it to his lips and drank. “Cal, you say?”

“Yeah! Cal who writes the ‘Humans of Sidlesmith’ column. Wait, you go to Sidlesmith, right? That’s how your friend gave me your number?”

Drew coughed behind the cup and set it down. “I _knew_ it was Hal! God damn…”

Harrison laughed. “Is that her name? How do you two know each other?”

“She’s my producer. Basically keeps me on task, both in and _out_ of the booth, apparently.”

“Well, I’m glad she brought us together like this.”

The silence that followed fell like a fluffy blanket on a winter afternoon over a pillow fort: gradual, welcomed, and comforting.

Drew cleared his throat and bent down to get something from his bag. He procured his laptop and started opening up his web browser. “I think we should clear some stuff up. I haven’t been… entirely honest with you.”

Harrison straightened up with intrigue. And just when he thought he had Drew all figured out.

Drew brought up a very familiar photo scan of a certain column from the Sidlesmith student paper. “Humans of Sidlesmith”; it was last week’s column about how to grapple with the issue of whether someone is meant to be with you or not. Harrison read that on the way to work and he had to spritz himself with the toner water before starting his shift because he got so teary-eyed reading the profound but sincere advice.

“You remember this column?” Drew asked. Harrison nodded.

“Well… what if… I told you…” Drew clicked around and brought up the final draft for his Valentine’s Day column. “I’m him…?”

Harrison read the column, but with the new information he just received. The call suddenly made sense. How he was hesitant to open up because he’d been hurt before. How he knew that getting hurt wasn’t something he shouldn’t be afraid of but because he was so hurt last time, he was scared he would truly be shattered and broken if it happened again. In a brief column, Drew poured his heart out in front of Harrison and the rest of the Sidlesmith student body.

And only he knew it was Drew.

“I mean,” Drew said, turning back the laptop so he could look through it, “I can show you emails from the editor so you knew it’s really me-”

“You don’t have to.”

Drew stopped clicking around and put away his laptop. “I… I could’ve just sent it to you over text but… it felt wrong.”

“I get it, yeah.”

“I know I could’ve just _told_ you, with spoken word, but like…”

“You feel like actually saying it might reveal a part of your soul you’re not sure you’re ready to show the world?”

Drew fell silent at that. Then, “Yes.”

Harrison reached across the table and took Drew’s hand in his. “It’s okay. I see you and I’m happy you shared this with me.” He brought up Drew’s hand and kissed the back of it.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted one barista reluctantly opening their wallet and giving a bill to another barista.

“Now,” Harrison said, “wanna have a bath?”

Before Drew could reply, he left a tip at the table and took Drew by the hand to lead him to Lush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know in the comments what you think of the perspective change! i didn't want to make this fic feel so one-sided >.>


	5. Touch Starved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Treat yo self! Treat yo gay ass self!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing this fic had been a blast, i've never finished a multi-chapter fic of this length in such a short time and your support at the discord server really helped me. if anything, it's me who should give kudos to y'all <3  
> update: oh lol i posted this on international fanworks day

It didn’t matter where they were going. Harrison could’ve been taking Drew to a secondary location to brutally murder him and he’d still be okay with it.

As long as Harrison was holding his hand, everything felt right.

His brightly colored hair bounced with every stride they took, the warmth of his hand emanated over Drew’s, and the gentle but sure tug against his arm made his heart soar and ache in all kinds of ways. He felt them slowing down when they arrived at a familiar shop.

With Harrison being in more colorful attire than his usual all-black outfit when he was working, he nearly blended in with the rest of the customers.

Emphasis on the word ‘nearly’.

“Hey, son!”

Son?

Harrison sighed and turned to the source of the voice. “Very funny, Vivian.” He sounded sarcastic but there was a hint of a smile on his face. Vivian was wearing a Lush apron, so a co-worker of his.

Vivian feigned a look of surprise when he saw Drew. “And is _this_ the ever-famous Drew?” He gasped. “I’ve heard so much about you!”

“Good things, I hope,” Drew said with a chuckle.

“Oh, _definitely_ good stuff,” Vivian said with a wink. “Now what can I help you with today? We just put the Eggplant bath bomb in if you’d like to check it out!” He led the two of them to a sink with swirling hues of purple, yellow, and blue. “This bath bomb has a _woodsy_ scent to it, so it’s perfect for all you folks who’d love to… get back to nature.”

Harrison, flushed with embarrassment, covered his face. “Oh my god, Viv, stop.”

“Never.” Vivian opened a cabinet underneath the sink and drank from a thermos. “I have an opportunity and I will make the most of it. Plus, I’m floor leader so I can do whatever I want.”

“Of course.” Harrison pointed at the thermos. “And what is today’s concoction?”

Vivian held up the thermos with pride. “Raw eggs with sugar, milk, and flour.”

“So…” Drew said, “pancake batter. You’re drinking pancake batter.”

“I was in a rush!” Vivian defended. He put the thermos away and resumed his Lush spiel. “We’ve got a wide range of Valentine’s Day products, including gifts to treat yourself or _someone you love._ ”

“Vivian,” Harrison said, “I think we’ll be fine by ourselves.”

Vivian held up his hands, admitting defeat and gesturing as if to let them through. Harrison linked arms with Drew. “That was Vivian. He’s been with Lush longer than me but we’re both in the same year at Sidlesmith.”

“Wait, you go to Sidlesmith?” Drew asked.

“Yeah! Wait, do you?”

“Yes, I host the radio show there.”

“ _You’re WFLUF The Fluff guy?!?!?!_ ”

“… Yes…”

Harrison, at this point, was as flushed as his hair was brightly colored. In a frenzied panic, he ran over to the ice tray table of face masks and dunked his hands in the ice. Drew covered his mouth as he laughed. He looked around in case there were onlookers and approached the ice tray table so he too could stick his hands in the ice. “Huh. Neat trick. I definitely feel a little cooler. Where’d you learn that?”

“By accident.”

“Fair enough.”

They remained there, hands in the ice until Harrison couldn’t bear the temperature and he recoiled from the ice tray table. Drew took his hands off as well, but with a little more composure. They dried themselves off with some nearby paper towels and started roaming the shop.

“You can pick anything you like here,” Harrison said, “I have a discount.”

Taken aback, Drew started browsing through the products and suddenly finding himself looking at the price first rather than if he liked the product itself. He found a brown, sandy mound with a sprig of rosemary and gravitated towards that.

“Ah yes, the Love Island scrub,” Harrison said. “You know, as much as I love the sugar scrubs as a concept, they get really sticky as testers.” He pointed at the tester for Love Island. “I mean, look at that.”

Drew shrugged. “I mean, I usually cut up mine, chuck it in a black pot, then use the bits when I need it.”

Harrison stared at Drew with widening eyes.

“What? I did that for the Sugar Plum Fairy scrub back in Christmas.”

“You’re a fucking genius.”

Drew blushed. “I mean, I just pick stuff up along the way.”

“Do you wanna have a feel of Love Island?”

Drew considered the scrub. “Now that I think about it, I actually haven’t given it a go. Why not?”

They took the tester from the shelf and found a sink. Harrison broke off a pea-sized piece and wet Drew’s forearm. Then, taking the scrub, he rubbed it in a circular motion. The potato starch, sugar, sea salt, and sand all worked together and scrubbed away at any dead skin he had. Upon rinsing, he could already feel – and see – the difference. He smelled his arm and raised his brows at the floral scent it left behind.

“Way better than Sugar Plum Fairy, I can tell you that,” Drew said with a laugh.

“You wanna get it?”

Drew froze and mentally fumbled with himself. Was that okay? It wasn’t too pricey? Was he being a dick? Is Harrison hating his indecision at this very moment-

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Harrison took a basket, found a paper bag, then dropped in a non-tester scrub inside. “Don’t worry. Staff discount, remember?”

“Y-yeah…”

They rounded the shop and ended up at the lip scrub section. Drew immediately picked up Eve’s Cherry and started sniffing at it.

“Want me to put it on for you?” Harrison offered.

Already too dazed from the sheer surrealism of this whole thing, Drew nodded. Harrison took the scrub, dabbed his pinkie in it to get some of the sugar, and gingerly pressed the scrub all over Drew’s bottom lip. It was the softest touch but it sent the most electrifying waves through him. He even had to clench his fists to prevent him from kissing Harrison right on the spot, lip scrub and all.

“Then we wait a few minutes and-”

Fuck it.

Drew pulled in Harrison by the scruff of his jacket and pulled him in for a kiss. The mixture of cherry, almond, and lime along with Harrison’s own natural _heavenly_ smell made the kiss that much sweeter, literally and metaphorically. Drew felt Harrison’s hands find their way around his waist and that’s when he pulled away.

“Make some room for Jesus!”

They turned and found Vivian laughing at his own comment. They pulled away from each other and Drew licked off the lip scrub. “Fruity,” he said as if nothing happened.

Harrison laughed and he licked his own lips as well, tasting the lip scrub. “Definitely. I’m taking this one.” He put the tester down, grabbed an unopened pot, and put it in the basket.

They found themselves at a gift shelf and Drew made a beeline for a white gift box with a… _prominent_ eggplant on it. He opened the tag for it and smiled as he took it off the shelf. “Is this one okay?” he asked Harrison like a child asking his parent’s permission. Harrison clutched his chest at the sweetness and eagerness of Drew’s tone.

“Of course.”

Drew excitedly put the box in the basket and said, “I think we’re all set.”

At the counter, Drew linked arms with Harrison again, but this time he rested his head on his shoulder.

Vivian, who was putting the items through, looked at Harrison and made that same obscene gesture as the barista back at Kishi’s: poking his tongue at the inside of his check. Harrison swatted at Vivian with his free hand.

As they walked out of the shop, Drew said, “I’m going to let you in on a secret.”

“Really now?”

“I act dumb around Lush employees and let them do demos on me because sometimes it’s the only time I ever get physical contact.”

That made Harrison stop walking. Drew was unaware of that and was already several paces ahead when he noticed he left Harrison behind. “What?”

“You poor, poor thing.”

“It’s this stupid thing I do, it’s not a big deal, I-”

Harrison caught up with Drew. “It _is_ a big deal. You are a touch starved gay and I will do everything I can to fix that.”

“And how will you do that?”

“You said you have a bath?”

Drew already knew where this was going, but played along anyway. “Yes. What for?”

“I’m going to show you how to bathe like the folks at Lush.”

Drew’s tub was sizeable, but fitting two people in it made for a cozy fit. Still, they managed to have a decent bath with the things they bought.

Harrison taught him how to use sieves for bubble bars. _Maximizes the bubbles_ , he said. Then, with the golden flecks in the bubbles, he put the Love Boat in the water and the orange oil complemented the floral gardenia extract of the Open Your Heart bubble bra ( _Best typo ever,_ Drew joked).

They both knew that having a bath together on Valentine’s Day was an unusual first date, but that’s the beauty of most relationships. There’s no single to script to follow and that offered them the freedom to make their own script, to make their own tropes and conventions and clichés.

Because with love, anything is possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unfortunately, all the products i mentioned come up as 404's in the lush usa site, but i think if you're quick enough, you could check out the uk lush site or even drop in at your local store and see if they have any stock left!  
> i hope i inspired you to give lush a try or visit your local store ^-^


End file.
